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Soulknife (High Psionics)
Never caught unarmed, the soulknife is the literal interpretation of using the power of the mind as a weapon. Creating a mind blade is the core of the soulknife, and with it, she is a deadly combatant. Versatile and varied, the soulknife can be found in all shapes and sizes, wielding blades unique to the wielder and customized to fit the needs of the soulknife. Fluid in function, the soulknife has mastered how to alter her mind blade to fit the situation, bringing power and versatility into any combat. Role: '''As a wielder of a weapon first and foremost, the soulknife excels as a front-line combatant on the battlefield. Her limited armor options and defensive abilities can be a hindrance, but her varied blade abilities can make her an excellent mobile warrior or battlefield controller. '''Alignment: '''Any. '''Hit Die: '''d10. '''Starting Wealth: 5d6 ×10 (average 175 gp.) In addition, each character begins play with an outfit worth 10 gp or less. Class Skills: '''The soulknife’s class skills are Acrobatics (Dex), Autohypnosis (Wis), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (psionics) (Int), Perception (Wis), Profession (Wis), Stealth (Dex), and Swim (Str). '''Skill Ranks per Level: '''4 + Int modifier '''Class Features The following are class features of the soulknife. Weapon and Armor Proficiency A soulknife is proficient with all simple weapons, with her own mind blade (regardless of form), with light and medium armor, and with shields (but not tower shields). Bonus Feat The soulknife may choose Power Attack, Two-Weapon Fighting, or Weapon Focus (mind blade) as a bonus feat at 1st level. Form Mind Blade (Su) As a move action, a soulknife can form a semi-solid weapon composed of psychic energy distilled from her own mind. A soulknife must choose the form of her mind blade at 1st level. She can either form it into a light weapon, a one-handed weapon, or a two-handed weapon. Once chosen, her mind blade stays in this form every time the soulknife forms her mind blade. The light weapon deals 1d6 points of damage, the one-handed weapon deals 1d8 points of damage, and the two-handed weapon deals 2d6 points of damage. All damages are based on a Medium-sized creature wielding Medium-sized weapons; adjust the weapon damage as appropriate for different sized weapons. In all forms, the mind blade has a critical range of 19-20/x2. A soulknife with powerful build or any similar ability forms an appropriately-sized mind blade dealing the size-appropriate amount of damage. If the soulknife’s chosen form is a light weapon, she may choose to form two light weapons when forming her mind blade if she so chooses, but she suffers the standard penalties for two-weapon fighting. Regardless of the weapon form a soulknife has chosen, her mind blade does not have a set damage type. When shaping her weapon and assigning abilities to it, the soulknife chooses whether it will deal bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage. The soulknife may change the damage type of an existing mind blade, or may summon a new mind blade with a different damage type, as a full-round action; otherwise, the mind blade retains the last damage type chosen every time it is summoned. The blade can be broken (it has hardness 10 and 10 hit points); however, a soulknife can simply create another on her next move action. The moment she relinquishes her grip on her blade, it dissipates (unless she intends to throw it; see below). A mind blade is considered a magic weapon for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction and is considered a masterwork weapon. A soulknife can use feats such as Power Attack or Combat Expertise in conjunction with the mind blade just as if it were a normal weapon. She can also choose her mind blade for feats requiring a specific weapon choice, such as Weapon Focus and Improved Critical. Powers or spells that upgrade weapons can be used on a mind blade. The soulknife can use feats such as Weapon Finesse that work on light weapons with her mind blade, but such feats only work on mind blades in a light weapon form. Even in places where psionic effects do not normally function (such as within a null psionics field), a soulknife can attempt to sustain her mind blade by making a DC 20 Will save. On a successful save, the soulknife maintains her mind blade for a number of rounds equal to her class level before she needs to check again, although the mind blade is treated for all purposes as a non-magical, masterwork weapon while in a place where psionic effects do not normally function. On an unsuccessful attempt, the mind blade vanishes. As a move action on her turn, the soulknife can attempt a new Will save to rematerialize her mind blade while she remains within the psionics-negating effect. She gains a bonus on Will saves made to maintain or form her mind blade equal to the total enhancement bonus of her mind blade (see below). The soulknife chooses the appearance of her mind blade, although its shape must reflect the selections the soulknife has chosen: a bludgeoning mind blade would be blunt, slashing would have an edge, etc. Shape Mind Blade The soulknife’s mind blade retains the last chosen form every time it is formed until the soulknife reshapes it. If the soulknife chooses to reshape her blade, it requires a full-round action to do so. She may also re-assign the type of damage dealt as part of reshaping her mind blade if she so chooses. A soulknife can reassign the ability or abilities she has added to her mind blade; see below. To do so, she must first spend 8 hours in concentration. These cannot be the normal 8 hours used for rest, even if the soulknife does not require sleep. After that period, the mind blade materializes with the new ability or abilities selected by the soulknife. Throw Mind Blade All soulknives have some knowledge of how to throw their mind blades, though the range increment varies by form and the largest of blade forms cannot be thrown. Light weapon mind blades have a range increment of 20 ft. One-handed weapon mind blades have a range increment of 15 ft. Two-handed weapon mind blades cannot be thrown without the Two-Handed Throw blade skill. Whether or not the attack hits, a thrown mind blade then dissipates. Unlocked Talent The soulknife gains Unlocked Talent as a bonus feat at 1st level. This provides her with the psionic power necessary to manifest her mind blade. A character who is already psionic instead gains the Psionic Talent feat. When the soulknife gains manifesting at 3rd level, she trades Unlocked Talent for Psionic Talent, if she didn't already do so. Blade Skills Beginning at 2nd level and every even soulknife level thereafter, a soulknife may choose one of a number of abilities to add to her repertoire. Some blade skills have prerequisites that must be met before they can be chosen. All blade skills may only be chosen once and require the soulknife to be using her mind blade unless otherwise stated in the skill’s description. (Blade skills can be found here) Enhanced Mind Blade A soulknife’s mind blade improves as the character gains higher levels. At 3rd level and every odd level thereafter, the mind blade gains a cumulative +1 enhancement bonus that she may spend on an actual enhancement bonus or on weapon special abilities. A soulknife’s level determines her maximum enhancement bonus (see Table 2-8: The Soulknife). The soulknife may (and must, when her total enhancement is higher than her maximum bonus) apply any special ability from the table below instead of an enhancement bonus, as long as she meets the level requirements. A soulknife can choose any combination of weapon special abilities and/or enhancement bonus that does not exceed the total allowed by the soulknife’s level, but she must assign at least a +1 enhancement bonus before assigning any special abilities. If the soulknife shapes her mind blade into two items, the enhancement bonus of her mind blade (if any) is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 0). If this would reduce the enhancement bonus on the mind blades to 0 and weapon special abilities are applied, the soulknife must reshape her mind blade to make the options valid. Both mind blades have the same selection of enhancement bonus and weapon special abilities (if any). This penalty does not apply when using the Mind Shield blade skill. (Mind Blade Enhancements can be found here) Manifesting At 3rd level, the soulknife gains the ability to manifest a small number of psionic powers, which are drawn from the soulknife power list. A soulknife chooses his powers from the soulknife power list. At 3rd level, a soulknife knows one soulknife power of your choice. He learns new powers as indicated on Table: The Soulknife. A soulknife can manifest any power that has a power point cost equal to or lower than his manifester level. The total number of powers a soulknife can manifest per day is limited only by his daily power points. A soulknife never needs to prepare powers ahead of time; he draws them from his mind when needed. When a soulknife recovers his daily power points after resting, he may choose to rotate one or more powers he knows for new ones. These powers must always be chosen from the soulknife power list, and the maximum number of powers the soulknife may know at any one time in this fashion is listed on Table: The Soulknife. If a soulknife learns a power through other means, such as the Expanded Knowledge feat, the Mental Power blade skill, or ''psychic chirurgery'', this power is known in addition to his normal powers. He may never exchange it for another power from the soulknife list when he chooses his powers known, and it doesn’t count against his limit of powers known at any one time. The Difficulty Class for saving throws against soulknife powers is 10 + the power’s level + the soulknife’s Wisdom modifier. Through 2nd level, a soulknife has no manifester level. At 3rd level and higher, a soulknife’s manifester level is equal to his soulknife level –2. A soulknife gains the ability to learn 1st-level powers at 3rd level. Every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, etc), a soulknife gains the ability to master more complex powers, up to 4th level powers at level 15. To learn or manifest a power, a soulknife must have a Wisdom score of at least 10 + the power’s level. A soulknife’s ability to manifest powers is limited by the power points he has available. His base daily allotment of power points is given on Table: Soulknife. In addition, he receives bonus power points per day if he has a high Wisdom score. His race may also provide bonus power points per day, as may certain feats and items. If a soulknife has power points from a different class, those points are pooled together and usable to manifest powers from either class. Psychic Strike (Su) As a move action, a soulknife of 3rd level or higher can imbue her mind blade with destructive psychic energy. This effect deals an extra 1d8 points of damage on any attack she wishes to activate it on (as long as the attack is made with her mind blade). A soulknife may hold the charge as long as she likes without discharging. It does not go off on any attack unless she chooses to use it, and the charge is not wasted if an attack misses. Mindless creatures are immune to this damage, although non-mindless creatures immune to mind-affecting effects are affected by this damage as normal. (Unlike the rogue’s sneak attack, the psychic strike is not precision damage and can affect creatures otherwise immune to extra damage from critical hits or more than 30 feet away.) A mind blade deals this extra damage only once when this ability is called upon, but a soulknife can imbue her mind blade with psychic energy again by taking another move action. Additionally, she may recharge it as a swift action by expending her psionic focus. Once a soulknife has prepared her blade for a psychic strike, it holds the extra energy until it is used (whether the attack is successful or not). Even if the soulknife drops the mind blade (or it otherwise dissipates, such as when it is thrown), it is still imbued with psychic energy when the soulknife next materializes it. If the soulknife forms her mind blade into two weapons, she may imbue each mind blade with psychic strike as normal. If she reshapes her mind blade into a single weapon form, the additional psychic strike imbued into the additional weapon is lost. At every four levels thereafter (7th, 11th, etc), the extra damage from a soulknife’s psychic strike increases by 1d8. Quick Draw A 5th level soulknife may manifest her mind blade as a free action, though she may still only attempt to do so once per round (unless throwing the weapon multiple times using the Multiple Throw blade skill). Mind Blade Mastery At 20th level, a soulknife reaches the pinnacle of her art and her connection to her blade is so strong it cannot be severed. She no longer requires a Will save to maintain her mind blade in a null psionics field, ''although it still loses any enhancement bonus and special abilities. In addition, she may change the configurations of her mind blade’s special abilities at will as a full-round action, which also resets any penalties that may have accrued from the Fluid Form and Improved Fluid Form blade skills. '''Favored Class Bonuses' * Atstreidi: Gain 1/6 of a blade skill. * Eiremian: Gain 1/6 of a new blade skill. * Elan: Add a +1/2 circumstance bonus on critical hit confirmation rolls with the mind blade. This bonus does not stack with Critical Focus * Elf: Add +1 to the soulknife’s CMD when resisting a disarm or sunder attempt. * Ethumion: '''Gain 1/6 of a new blade skill. * '''Forgeborn: '''Add +1/2 to CMB when attempting a disarm or sunder. * '''Half-elf: Add +1 to the soulknife’s CMD against disarm or overrun attempts. * Half-giant: Add +1/2 to the soulknife’s CMB when attempting a sunder or overrun. * Half-gnoll: '''Add +1/4 damage with the soulknife’s psychic strike class ability. * '''Half-orc: Add +1/2 to the soulknife’s psychic strike damage. * Halfling: Add +1 to the soulknife’s CMD when resisting a grapple or trip. * Human: '''The soulknife gains +1/6 of a new blade skill. * '''Lasher: '''Gain +1/6 of a new blade skill. * '''Maenad: Add a +1 to the soulknife’s CMD against disarm or trip attempts * Noral: '''Add +1/2 to psychic strike damage. * '''Ophiduan: Add a +1 to the soulknife’s CMD when resisting a grapple or trip. * Rana: '''Add a +1/2 to the soulknife’s CMB when performing a disarm or trip maneuver. * '''Thrallspawn: '''The soulknife gains +1/6 of a new blade skill. * '''Woodborn: '''The soulknife gains +1/6 of a new blade skill. * '''Xeph: Add a +1 to the soulknife’s base speed. Archetypes Armored Blade Augmented Blade Brutality Blade Cutthroat Deadly Fist Feral Heart Ghostblade Living Legend Moonlight Mediant Nimble Blade Psychic Armory Shielded Blade Soulbolt War Soul Xephyr (Xeph) Category:Source: Ultimate Psionics